


Story of a Lost A.I.

by LordGrimwing, Minion_Energon_101



Category: Brave Police J-Decker
Genre: Beating, Emotionally Repressed, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Maybe - Freeform, Other, Physical Abuse, Physical Disability, Understanding, possible suicide attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2018-05-08 10:56:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5494619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordGrimwing/pseuds/LordGrimwing, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minion_Energon_101/pseuds/Minion_Energon_101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Deckerd is still gone after the Chieftains beat the Braves. Regina and Duke's arrival was not a welcome one, either. </p><p>Even if Duke hides behind Regina's training to be "the perfect policeman," he can still feel the hate in his team towards him. But one day, it'll be too late to save Duke. And Gunmax can't help but sneak around since Shadowmaru is still hurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. All Power Joe

 Gunmax mentally sighed as the normal activities of the Comand room played out like any Sunday. Power Joe and Dumpson arm wrestled and McCrane polished his rifle as he growled every time Power Joe got his arm slammed down harder each time he lost, which was a lot. Drillboy sat on his small desk and bounced a soccer ball with either his hands or with his foot on the floor and he would eventually try basketball finger-spinning his soccer ball on his pede and just watched it spin. He saw Yuuta with his head down on his desk that over looked the room on the humans balcony.

Poor mini boss. Not a a day or two ago did they loss Deckerd to the Chieftain twins. Those two fuel snatching fakers decided to drag themselves out of whatever hole they thrived from and go on a killing spree for J-Decker. They had attacked Shadowmaru and almost killed him if it hadn't been for Seia (thank the Super A.I. gods because she leads to Navy...), Shadowmaru would have drowned in the ocean and drained of all his special oil in the salty water, slowly sinking to the abyss of the reef. And they had the nerve to kick Gunmax's aft too! It was frustrating! He barely got to the fight and even then, his bike was so bad, he thought about just running there if it hadn't been for the fact he couldn't move much.

And then their was Deckerd's murder...!

No. Gunmax didn't go there. He wasn't going to bring it up, he was to fond of Deckerd to get mad at his death. Gunmax had a respect for the blue cop car ever since Deckerd had hand cuff themselves together... Long story, involving Gunmax being framed for a previous partners crimes, Gunmax's mood swings and constant disappearing (he was just driving laps around the city), and Deckerd being one of the only ones to truly believe in Gunmax's innocence (everyone was spectacle, okay?) and Deckerd smacked cuffs on him. When they were in that forest... they became... friends? Brothers by oil barrel? It was fun tricking that hillbilly old man that they were "confiscating" his oil for tampering in supplies at "the factory!" Good times...

And now, they give Gunmax the worst felling in his... everything. From his pede, through his body, in his tanks, in his neck cables, and to his Super A.I.. Gunmax still couldn't believe moral was so low... in the board room, it actually looked like a normal Sunday night.

Dumpson and Power Joe actually being entertaining (to themselves mostly), McCrane polishing that old rifle of his, Yuuta sulking because he had school tomorrow, Shadowmaru off doing whatever-it-is he does, and Duke on last night patrol. But it couldn't be more difficult. He knew Dumpson and Power Joe were venting under hushed breaths as they wrestled, McCrane was polishing a deadly weapon (focusing on no one but a deadly weapon), Yuuta was mourning for Deckerds death, Drillboy wasn't enjoying anything his mostly prized soccer ball could give (he had his special one sighed by every person and/or robot he trusted on base), Shadowmaru was still in a dead sleep while the engineers fixed him up, and Deckerd was under the control of that stupid eye rock alien that had a metal fetish! Another long story...

Gunmax stopped staring at everyone when McCrane glared at him and he stopped polishing that metal and wooden stick to reload the rounds within the barrel. Good, why not go to the shooting range next? Just as he was about to get up and leave, the newcomer and self-proclaimed "leader" of the Brave Police, Duke "Knight" came walking in with all his glory. If your wondering how the Brave Police got an ambulance on their team (an ambulance knight, no less) then listen close. Not barely thirty seconds after Deckerd died, a pristine and curvy ambulance pulled up and a blonde lady with a black body suit and a tiny red shirt over the suit got out of it and helped them chase off the Chiefains.

The ambulance was very attractive he must say but the moment he was sitting in Deckerd's seat and telling them it was a simple "leaders" seat was very alluring. He kinda liked this mechas moxy.

When he walked in, the room went cold and silent. He went straight for the fire truck in the back of the room (had they forgotten that big red room pile on?) but he had to walk past a glaring Simpson, a growling Power Joe, a practically-oblivious McCrane, and a saddened Yuuta (did he mention Yuuta hates Duke, in a lot of ways but not completely).

Gunmax didn't include himself, he was telling this story right?

Duke made his way back to his combining buddy and checked something on the side of the fire truck. Duke just stared at it for a minute before he started to walk to Deckerd's seat (A.K.A. the "leaders" seat). As he made his way over, Gunmax heard Power Joe growl and he almost acted on the instinct of throwing his pistol for the fun of it. It had a homing device in it, it always comes back.

But when Duke didn't take a seat, he just stared at the desks contents and searched the reports that piled up a little, he was curious.

"Why don't you sit down, throw your feet on the desk?" Gunmax asked as he leaned back in his chair for emphasis.

"That does not sound pleasing. Putting dirty limbs that are bound to be covered in mud or caking dirt on these desks, that the humans spent so long to sanitize when we leave, does not appeal to me." Duke said but didn't look at Gunmax til the next sentence, "And it's very rude. Lady has taught me better."

... Now even relaxing felt like a crime.

He felt the urge to throw his pistol again when he heard Power Joe growl and actually started to hold his arm against Dumpson's before it slammed down again. He was getting angry, Gunmax could tell now because the green optics that belonged to the power shovel were dark green but glowing with emotions. Gunmax chuckled mentally, that was a little show Power Joe's A.I. hasn't blown out yet.

"You'd all fit to join me." Duke said as he toke a random report out of the middle stack and looked over it fully.

Power Joe ripped his arm from Dumpson's grip and stood up in a rage and stomped his pede, "Really?! What would you be doing that we so need."

"Well, I think some of you can join me." Duke said and held the report more firmly, "Others, I recommend asking Mr. Toudou or Lady to teach you anger management or at least some respect."

Power Joe howled and launched at Duke, only to be stopped by Dumpson arm locking him and Drillboy (abandoning his ball) holding his chest just incase he wiggled away from Dumpson. McCrane forgot about his rifle entirely and stood up in between the restrained Power Joe with his brothers and Duke. Yuuta stood up quickly but didn't move in any other way, as did Gunmax.

"You piece of scrap metal!" Power Joe yelled to Duke as he returned to reading the report and apparently the newspaper that went along with it, "How could you just stand there and act like you didn't do anything?!"

"Because I didn't," Duke said and gathered his papers, "I merely suggested what you truly do need. I didn't want you to actually prove that you need it."

Power Joe cried out again and fought against two out of three of his brothers even more as Duke began to leave with what he came for. Gunmax met Duke's face when he left (not really met because Duke didn't look in his direction), and he saw just before his visored optics couldn't see Duke's own optics, that Duke's plain and emotionless orange optics turned a sad and distressed yellow.

Gunmax would have pointed it out if (oh, he knew this was making it worse) Power Joe screaming revolting things after the ambulance.

"You giant wast of metal! Running back to your tiny, creepy corner in the base where trash ends up!" Power Joe just kept going and going, "Running back to the your little British master so she can find a new flaw in your head and make you more of a bastard! You-!"

"POWER JOE!" Yuuta cried and when everyone turned their helms, they saw everyone standing there.

The General was frowning deeply while Toudou was whispering to him, both looking grim. Yuuta and his sisters, Kurumi and Azuki, were standing there, Yuuta crying fully and hearty tears as Azuki looked extremely pale. Seia and Ayako stood there with pure surprise and horror on their faces as the door behind them slammed and a young blonde girl stepped out. Regina glared out amongst the crowd but didn't say anything at first, Gunmax knew she must have been mad at them for distressing Duke and putting "human" inside his "perfect" A.I. Regina had made...

"I could thank you." Regina said and caused most of the room to go astonished, "But I won't."

With that note, she turned and left instantly with a huff. Gunmax... could not believe it. Regina, the head engineer that graduated at the age of 10 from an engineering college, made Duke out of spare parts (literally) and a half made blueprint (okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration)... had just thanked them for letting Power Joe verbally abuse Duke.

After a minute of stunned silence, Ayako hit the desk with her fist and glared, "Baka! How dare you say such things to Duke! And how dare all of you-!" she pointed at everyone else "-bare to let Power Joe continue!"

"It's not our job to control to control Power Joe!" Dumpson said and shoved the power shovel away now that he wasn't struggling, "And Duke was taunting him!"

"Even if so, you do not retort back!" Seia stepped in, "I am a military commander and I have seen things like this in my ranks! Someone says something and the person getting spoken to gets angry and attacks the person! The beginning aggressor never gets as much punishment as the soldier who attacks him, even if he starts! And I'm sure if you had maimed Duke liked you wish, he'd just come back because of Toudou and Regina's engineering, and you'd be the one getting your A.I. refreshed!"

Gunmax didn't stay anymore after that. He was going to consult Duke, but better he left, he left on a sour note... "I could have cared less if I ripped the Super A.I. from his processor and he slowly died under my fist-!"


	2. Overheard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gunmax overheard...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, I know, but at least the story progresses!

Gunmax's jaw line was snapped shot and pursed in a straight line. A very bad note to land on if you were sensitive to topics like this, and Gunmax wasn't a stranger to the whole "team hates new guy" thing. He had been the new guy in the American division once and they were slightly welcoming people. Some were greedy little monsters, because he would wake up from recharge and their would be some random soldier in his quarters and they'd be snooping through his rooms contents. He could still remember his partner being the only one assigned to him that would just sit in a chair and relax and wait for Gunmax to wake up and not snoop his room.

Those days were gone. He was in Japan and with a very crippled team and right now, he was the glue that was going to fix these mechas. And going to do a pretty good job about that.

He rounded a corner and Gunmax couldn't help but think about what had happened in the Deckerd command room, that made his tanks churn just a little. He had never felt so... nervous orthis upset. This new guy, he was... new. He knew the new guy saw how everyone functioned and what they were the person who was in their role. At least he hoped so...

He just hoped that he could at least teach Duke about the team. Cross his fingers he wasn't too late.

He rounded another corner and saw he was coming up to the Brave Police's engineering room and there were voices coming out of it instead of the usual sound of cutting metal and shifting feet. He stopped at the doorway and softly peaked into the room. The room was empty other then three figures, two larger then the other. The little figure on the balcony was growling and demanding things from the tallest online thing in the room. Duke and Regina. Another figure was on a slab made for the human engineers to reach the Brave Police entirely and he was just laying there. Offline. Gunmax snickered but when quiet as Regina snapped at Duke.

"I will hear no more discussion of it!" Regina said as Gunmax peaked a little more, just enough to see them entirely.

"B-but Lady! I can make a change! A difference in their perspectives!" Duke pleaded and Gunmax's actual optics widen at the emotion it was leaking, strain, "I can show them they don't need Deckerd, and that it can be different!"

"You won't." Regina said as she gripped a device in her hands, it wasn't really finished but it looked like a remote control, "They're too fond of him. You'll never be excepted into this team the way I wish."

"Lady, to be fair," Duke began again and he almost growled at the kicked puppy look Duke was giving Regina, "I...I could care less if I'm seen as the leader, I just want to have... the team, a team' This isn't Scotland Yard. This is Japan."

"That is correct. We are not in Scotland anymore." Regina hummed.

"Thank you, Lady..." Duke sighed. It couldn't be simply over just like that by how they were going at it...

"That only means that you need to be reprogrammed." Regina began again and Gunmax winced, "The perfect policeman does not care to appeal the team. A perfect policeman does not care about where he is living and working, everything follows you no matter where you go..."

"Lady! Please." Duke called.

"And the perfect policeman does not beg and whine when someone does not rule in their favor!" Regina finished and held up the unfinished device, "This machine is going to be a switch. A switch for your A.I. and only I decide when you get shut down!"

"That's not what I want, Lady..." Duke choked, "I want nothing to do with any of this..."

The sound of running meet his audios and he pressed against the wall as Duke ran past him, his face downwards and his running stance sloppy and rushed. Gunmax watched the distressed ambulance run and he could still hear within the room he had previously been spying on. Just as he was about to run in the room, to demand what was going on, he heard a slight scoff from the room Duke had exit...

Gunmax frowned and then growled softly as he made his way after Duke, the ambulance couldn't have gone far.

* * *

 Stupid accusation! Turns out the ambulance could get as far as he wanted when he was upset. And he was very much ready to say, " _Okay, I did my fair share of work, let him work it out on his own. I did."_

And that almost made him smack himself, he hadn't done anything and it was hard for him to claim the prize of participation when all he did was eavesdrop. He growled and smacked his face, avoiding his visor to avoid dramatic stupidity, and slowly moved it down off his face in a gesture of stressed aggravation.

"Gunmax!" Drillboy came over frantically and in such bad hysterics that he would sometimes stumble on his words.

"Drillboy? Drillboy!" Gunmax said and tried to pay attention to the gibberish he was receiving.

"Gunmax!" Drillboy started again with the gibberish, Gunmax wanted to smack the drillformer but what he barely made out made him upset, "Duke left with Yuuta and his sisters!"

Gunmax was tempted to say, " _It could be his turn to take them home._ " but he wanted to smack himself again. Duke hadn't been here for more then almost a day and a half and he's pretty sure no one has had the guts to take over Deckard's job on taking Yuuta and/or his sisters home just yet. So that meant he had to go to mini-bosses home and look for the ambulance, demand a explanation, and _stomp_ all over his teammates for earlier.

He didn't listen to Drillboy anymore as he put his servo on the naive mechas face to shut him up and he made his way to his garage where his bike was waiting for the chase. What he didn't do as he turned the corner, was listen to his orange and soccer addicted counterpart.

"Wait! Gunmax-WAIT! Duke said something else! GUNMAX!" And Drillboy was left alone.


	3. Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A more devious move has been made one night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a Beta now. Their under Co-author!  
> This chapter is nicer and sleeker bc them!

Duke hadn't meant to go that far, Lady was probably hastening her advancements on her A.I. remote. He knew he went out of line, he knew he must have made her mad. Her glares said it all.

Duke speed through the hallway and down to the garage which he knew lead to the less used entrance of the building. The Braves’ garage could fit a little more than Super Build Tiger and J-Decker while the two sat, with a slight hunch, hip to hip. But the back garage wouldn't even fit Gunmax very well; though, as the room the humans stored their cars and bikes in, it could fit Shadowmaru's wolf form just fine. Humans storage, not ambulance bots escape route. Yet it was about to become just that.

He should have stopped as an orange frame came around the corner but he didn't. He just didn't. When Drillboy almost fell over him, Duke had halted. The ambulance really only did this because the smaller bot grabbing his arms in an attempt to stabilize himself.

Drillboy must have mistook him stopping as a sign he’d tried helped him from falling because he’d smiled sadly at the British bot, saying, "Thanks, Duke."

"Oh," Duke said, and he’d frowned slightly as the orange mech didn't let his forearms go, "Your welcome, Drillboy. I apologise for running into you but I really must go."

Drillboy didn't let go even when Duke tugged lightly, trying to not raise more suspicion about his rushed exit. Apparently dashing in the halls after what happened in the meeting room sent up a red flag. If he hadn't ran, if he’d set a leisurely pace in the direction he wanted, then maybe he would be scott free and transforming out of the back entrance by now. Maybe he wouldn’t be enduring suspicious looks from the little mech.

"Duke," Drillboy said lightly, "Don't take whatever Power Joe said to heart. He’s just trying to cope with Deckard gone."

Duke grunted but not in response to the drill, just at himself for getting dragged down like this. "Trust me, I won't. Anything Power Joe says "goes out the other ear" as they say. I appreciate your concern Drillboy but I really..."

Drillboy brought on a big, sad, look. Nothing like the usual puppy dog optics he used when the rest of the team tried telling him _no_. Somehow this was worse. Instead of simply invoking feelings of sadness, this brought unnecessary guilt to his A.I. He had a sinking feeling Drillboy was going to beg him to tell him what's wrong, or--even worse--beg to walk him to wherever he was in such a hurry to go. Duke couldn't see Drillboy casually walking to the back entrance and letting him creep out, not without asking why. He really didn't need the drill upset over him leaving.

"Please, Duke," Drillboy said softly, "Let me at least join you--"

 _Bloody hell_!? Did the little mech just know exactly what other’s didn’t want him to ask?

"--Until I get where I need to be. We’re only a few corners away! I want to walk with you just a little, be next to you in a way."

That . . . actually didn't sound too bad. Drillboy had taken a room and transformed it into a decent soccer field: ball polish, extra balls, air pumps, extra nets and beams for goals, paint for the field he practiced on. You name it and Drillboy had it. Futball maintenance was all the room was good for and it seemed the ball on Drillboy's chassis could use some right about now.

"Fine." Duke said with some interest, watching Drillboy perk up. "We'll walk to your maintenance closet."

"Ah, ah!" Drillboy shouted, letting the ambulance go and waving a finger. "The maintenance closet of soccer professionals, you mean!"

"Whatever floats your boat, Drillboy." Duke smiled and began walking. Drillboy sticking close to his right side.

The maintenance closet was in the same direction as the back entrance and that made Duke less upset about the walk. He had plenty to be upset about today, certainly enough to make this walk uncomfortable: fighting with whatever was left of this team, watching as crippled Shadowmaru tried some physical therapy and landing back on the berth with a heave, Lady showing him the machine that would controlled his basic life, and being tailed by Gunmax for quite a while until he lost him. That was only since the sun had gone down.

"So," Drillboy said with his arms behind his helm, "Where were you going in a hurry?"

Duke couldn’t think of a reason to stay silent, not with the ceiling looming over head, soundlessly demanding Drillboy be treated well. _Guilt_. Neither did he have a reason to tell the truth. "Fax room. An urgent notion has to be faxed and looked over with care about medical professional not getting paid their wages." Duke calmly claimed.

Drillboy must have accepted it because he hummed and move on with another question, expression blank as he could manage. "Anything fancy happen lately? Anything you might be upset about?"

"Not that I can think of," or that you should know, "nothing urgent anyway. Maybe a few mothers giving birth in my cab as I saved them from buildings upsets me slightly but nothing else bad." Duke sighed.

Drillboy cringed. "Aren't births messy?"

"Yes." Simple answer.

Drillboy looked at him in surprise. "Who helped you clean that out?!"

Duke hummed in thought. "Well, Lady and the generals were too busy, so I think Ms. Seia and a military man cleaned and sterilized my cab."

"You _think_?!" Drillboy emphasized as they turned the first of two corners.

Duke nodded. He was slightly upset he couldn't actually remember getting cleaned. The births hadn't been lovely, but not all unpleasant. At least he wasn't the doctor who had to birth and control the process or the father whose hands popped and skin turned red as the wife screamed. He was glad he only had to drive to the hospital and not help anyone inside . . .

"Well . . ." Drillboy said after shivering. "Are you sure nothing else’s bugging you? Nothing you want to tell me, or at least show me?"

"No," Duke said. "Not that I can think of."

"You sure Duke?" Drillboy said, his tone interlaced two unknown emotions together.

"Drillboy." Duke snapped lightly and looked at the mech, "I'm fine, everything's fine, nothing is wrong and I'm sorry I have no ‘juicy gossip’ as you call it." He looked at how far they had to go before Drillboy's stop then back to Drillboy, "Why are you so persistent?"

Drillboy sighed lightly, looking at the ceiling, servos still interlocked behind his neck, "Because something is bothering me and I'm upset about it..."

Duke couldn't just let Drillboy leave off there. Duke might be the expendable part of the team, not really a true member , but he couldn't leave the little bot like that. Drillboy had that thing about him where no one could ignore him and it had nothing to do with how the mech was orange and white with a big mouth and volume. That was just his presence. Or the fact Duke was being a  _hypocrite_ lately.

"What is it, Drillboy?" Duke asked softly to his walking companion.

Drillboy halted and he lowered his arms, making Duke stop in his tracks in confusion for a second. Drillboy oddly blank look scared realization into the ambulance.

"A certain friend of mine has been _lying to me_ since we started talking. _Sound familiar_?"

Duke almost choked. Drillboy continued with a light but rigid tone of voice. "He lied about fax reports. He lied about being fine. He lied about not letting a certain brother of mine's words get to him. I think the only truth I've got out of him tonight it the fact his cab has a 50 percent chance of having pregnant lady fluids in it."

Duke mental reeled and did a double take. So Drillboy was more observant than people gave him credit for. He had noticed Duke was walking in the opposite direction of the fax machine, the fact he was hesitant to walk with him after what transpired in the meeting room, and even that the only thing that was true came out of his vocalizer easier than the lies did.

"Kudos, Drillboy." Duke whispered back to him.

Drillboy smiled and then went back to a frown to keep him composure and make sure Duke didn't pull him into a subject chang. "Thank you. Now, will I get a correct answer? Please, Duke . . ."

"I won't tell you the whole truth . . ." Duke said as he stepped in front of the soccer mech. "Maybe some of it though. You did find your way around my steady lying."

"Some?!" Drillboy choked. "But I want to help you!"

"And you will. Just not now." Duke said, getting closer and whispered to the startled and confused mech, "But you're not the one who's going to save me from myself..."

Drillboy looked up in pure concern and confusion as Duke retreated and turned to take a few steps before he heard a beep. It was a comm link. It was too far and muffled to be his own so he watched as Duke stopped and cursed lightly. Someone must have...

"Looks like I have to take the children home, everyone else is unsuitable to roam the streets with children inside them. Like an ambulance is any better." Duke mumbled out loud, turning to Drillboy. "Sorry, you have to walk the rest of the way yourself, I have a duty to fulfill."

Duke disappeared from Drillboy’s sight and the little mech frozen after. He hadn't realized it until Duke was gone, but now he could hearhurried steps from where they--Duke--had stood a few seconds ago. He knew who it was before his teammate perimeter alert warned him.

"Gunmax! Gunmax!" He ran back the way he came.

* * *

 

Duke sighed as Yuuta was carried into his driver seat unconscious. He wasn't upset at this turn of events with Yuuta's family needing to be taken home. It was a hassle on his plan though, especially when they were asleep inside his cab. Sure, his sisters were awake but the little boss was who he saw everyday. He could get away with acting suspicious around Yuuta as he was blinded by childish naivety, but his sisters... His sister's weren't exactly often called to the police station. They could pick up on his subtle hints of being upset, being older sisters and mature, he hoped they didn't.

They swiftly swung in and the eldest sister buckled in Yuuta's sleeping form. When they were all buckled up, Duke speed out the back entrance and started a steady and relieving pace to the humans’ home.

The night would have been silent had it not been for Yuuta's snoring and the two girls whispering in his passenger seats about bloody knows what. He had no interest on listening in after the baby incident and he gladly just drove straight and--.

"Duke," Azuki said softly, "We want to apologize for what happened today. It was so ugly."

"Yeah!" Kurumi said louder but not loud enough to stir the sleeping boy, "You’re not the one who took Deckard from us, you're also not the one who put yourself in charge! That was all Regina--"

"Please!" Duke said and cut off the middle child, "You'll awaken Yuuta."

"But--" Kurumi was silent when Azuki shushed her dark haired sister.

"Duke," Azuki looked at his dashboard with a loving and calming look, making him feel something in his A.I. that was strangely uncomfortable. "I understand what you're going through . . ."

"Azuki..." He whispered gently, as a warning or as astonishment, he didn't know. He and Kurumi listened to the oldest sister of the Tomonaga siblings who's eyes had grown starry.

"I understand because I've done this about three times." She said softly with that same bloody caring expression, "Shadowmaru and Kagero, I think his name was, were fighting, and I was caught in the middle. Kagero and Shadowmaru were practically brothers when Kagero went rogue and started attacking talking machines, which is how I got where I was."

Duke listened intently, quiet but still paying attention, while Kurumi searched the seat.

"They had a falling out. Shadowmaru held a certain point of view that Kagero didn't. Kagero was going to be wiped of his memories, given new orders, and shipped off somewhere else. To Shadowmaru that was an okay idea, he didn't need Kagero being his "shadow" anymore and this was a chance at a possibly new and better life for Kagero. Kagero didn't agree. While Shadowmaru monologued how much memories were just data, Kagero stated his memories were more than data. Everything built from there. Kagero didn't want to forget everything he knew, didn't want to forget Shadowmaru like he was nothing...

"Because to Kagero, Shadowmaru was his everything." Azuki stopped, tears fresh in her big brown eyes, before continuing, "Shadowmaru let Kagero go and Kagero returned me. I was so tired I fell unconscious . . . when I awake, I got information that scared me to death--" She choked, "Kagero was captured and tampered with... Shadowmaru had to kill him . . ."

Duke watched as she rubbed her eyes and smiled at him, again with such love and misery he was sure it was _burning_ his inner chassis.

"I had to comfort Shadowmaru when he showed up in our backyard with low fuel. He had tried to starve himself to death, would you believe it?" Azuki's voice was softer now. Duke couldn't understand how but it was. "I told him the real Kagero was cheering him on somewhere, and when Deckerd showed up to retrieve him for a mission, Shadowmaru, he fueled all the way back up. Ready to fight..."

Duke heard Kurumi gasp softly as Azuki finished off tortuous last words.

"For him."

"OH NO!" Kurumi cried, surprisingly not stirring the boy to her left. She was looking around frantically as if Azuki's story wasn't heart touching. Either that or this item she was looking for was important.

"Ms. Tomonaga, what are you looking for?" Duke asked as he stopped at their house.

"We have to go back!" She told Duke's dashboard before patting her dress down again. "We left our pagers for the team back on Yuuta's desk. We also left some forms we need for Yuuta's next year on the force!"

Duke made a calming noise. "Don't worry, I have no reason to rush this trip. I can drive you back and Azuki can go retrieve said items from Yuuta's desk. Okay?"

Kurumi calmed down. "Yes, thank you. I apologize for yelling so loudly."

"No need." Duke's tone sounded of a smile while his vehicle form could not.

He set them back into motion and they drove down the street so Duke could get to the intersection and make a U-turn. On the way to the intersection, they paused at a red light leading to a four-way stop. South, the way they came. North were neighborhoods and houses of the city. West was small markets and local service providing places. East lead into the highways of downtown Nanamagari City. Duke sat at the red light for awhile before making a soft noise to gain the attention of the two young women.

"Yes Duke?" Kurumi asked.

"What do you need?" Azuki asked alongside her younger sister.

"Azuki..." Duke said softly, timidly, "Why did you tell me such a story? About Shadowmaru and... Kagero, yes?"

She nodded and hummed, "Well, you remind me of Kagero, excluding the kidnapping and physical dispute with someone else, you are having personality problems. Or in present terms, "getting along and fitting in" trouble. I feel with a little niceness, maybe..."

Duke saw the green light and turned onto the intersection, the blacktop cold and sleek with fresh friction under his rolling tires. He sped down the fast lane, making good headway for the station.

"Just maybe... you would open up to us helping you. Maybe even to the team . . .?"

"OH MY GOD! DUKE, SWERVE!" Kurumi screamed, awakening her brother next to her. She tried to grab his wheel.

Before he could ask why she had screamed once again, a large mass landed and broke the blacktop it crashed onto. A dozen cars on both sides swerved and panicked, crashing into each other, but Duke had no such luxury. He hit what appeared to be a leg, trying to stop the humans from receiving whiplash.

Whatever it was put its foot on his roof and pressed down, making Duke's alt mode creak with strain, and he grunted as the family inside him grew scared. He opened his doors and ordered them out of his alt mode, they quickly complied with his demands. The girls crawled out his right door and Yuuta out his left. With his door now open, they no longer providing essential structural support, his body began to give way to pressure and his roof started cracking.

Suddenly, the foot lifted off of him and Duke didn't take the opportunity to just sit there. The ambulance tried to transform, made challenging with the damage he sustained, only to catch a glimpse of the thing’s foot coming down to kick him in the face with full force as his bipedal form rested after his transformation.

He flew over a five car intersection blockage, an umptheen car pile on, and hit two cars with their humans still inside before skidding on the pavement, taking blacktop with him. He laid there limp as the man and woman in each car screamed in terror as the massive force loomed over them. The being just stood over there, blocking a good chunk of the stars and blending with the empty black midnight abyss he stared at some nights. The form’s optics glistened as they traced his inpudent frame.

 _J-Decker_. The form was J-Decker, the big body couldn't hide those familiar features he recognized the last time they fought. The chassis. The base color clear even in the shadows. The optics burned the same even if they were under the control of an alien force. Said alien force clinging to J-Decker's body.

He quickly pulled out his pistol and cocked the revolver to make sure his ammunition was full before he shot up at his doom. Oil ran down his mouth and from the crack on his forehead, his right optic getting covered in black grease. He spit out said oil as it leaked into his mouth and quickly aimed up at J-Decker as the beast raised its same foot above him.

The humans under his side started to scream louder and the began to giggle their door handles.

The pavement felt twice as cold against his back...

It was going to stomp him. Like some fly it was just swatting out of the air but hadn't killed...

He pulled the trigger four times before that large leg came down at him with full force. All the while he heard the distant sound of a motorcycle revving its engine at full throttle and a human female screaming:

"DUKE! DUKE!"

Sadly, in his A.I. he knew that was the third time tonight a girl had yelled at him.

Sadly, it was the third different female who yelled at him...

Azuki-- no, _any women_ \-- had never sound so heart wrenchingly horrified.


	4. Mowed Down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was flattened and picked up like scrap.

If it wasn't for the adrenaline in his veins then his pede and servos wouldn't have helped him speed up his bike to the highest notch, and that was almost unthinkable as the noises it made sounded bad for the engine. If it hadn’t been for that, he would have seen the car he had made crash. Gunmax pushed his bike to its safety limits, anything higher could throw out its suspension if he went over a bad hill. There's even the chance his bike could hit a pothole and throw him a mile away if he wasn't careful. But he didn't care, he really couldn't care right now. All he wanted was to catch up to Duke before anything happened without anyone to assist him.  
  
' _But Duke is a police officer_ ,' The rational little part of Gunmax’s mind reasoned, ' _If he needs us, he'd call in_.'   
  
Gunmax himself couldn't agree with the idea as it came to the front of his head. It was better to have someone by your side when everything went to hell rather than twenty minutes after you started fighting. Maybe Duke wouldn't even last twenty minutes: the Chieftains took out Shadowmaru and J-Decker too easily. And J-Decker...   
  
He gunned his engines a little faster. Duke and he needed to talk.   
  
After about ten minutes of speeding without his lights and sirens he almost missed his destination. Gunmax groaned as his bike creaked with the strain of stopping, it almost sounded  like cries of abuse. It was a the dry and choked sounds the engine made that made him sit on his bike for a second to make sure nothing died on him. When the oil started to flow more smoothly after a laxed rev, he turned it off. Geez, he needed to be easier on the engine next time, it was only the best of medium grade...   
  
He jumped off as he knocked the kickstand down and making sure his bike stayed up on the curve before he turned toward Yuuta's house.   
  
He sent a command to the driveway garage door to open. When it did, no ambulance was in the garage.   
  
He went around the left side of the house to peer into the backyard. No giant there.   
  
He walked to the front of the house again, looking up and down the street. No Duke, Yuuta, or his sisters anywhere.   
  
Gunmax groaned inwardly as he noticed some of Yuuta's neighbors walking outside to check on the noise. Some were in gowns with either their head in curls or a nightcaps and some were angrily staring at him in lazy clothes. But he didn't spare  them much attention. Where the heck could the ambulance have gone now? It shouldn't be that hard to find a simple ambulance with three familiar faces with it.   
  
With hissing static, a cry arose from his bikes built in radio, a high but very familiar voice crying in terror as an explosion and gunshots rang out, " _ **DUKE**_!"   
  
Dammit! Gunmax runs to his bike and hops on its upholster seat, opening up the communication channel to blare into the street.   
  
" _ **Guys! Anyone?!**_ " Yuuta cried into the radio, his badge radio must have been damaged in some way as static laced every word.   
  
"Yuuta, where are you?! Where's Duke?!" Gunmax was the first to reply.   
  
"Yuuta, what happened to Duke?!" Drillboy was the next to cry out across the line.   
  
" _ **Guy... J-Decke- i-zzz- at the highest inte-zzz-ection on Main! Duke'-zz-z-aving pede-zzt-ions!**_ " The static was grating and almost unbearable, Yuuta's scared and hysteric voice wasn't helping, " _ **Everyon-zzz-to me!**_ "   
  
Yuuta's position wasn't too far when it showed up on Gunmax’s internal map, the GPS on his bike immediately making a yellow line for his bike to follow. He kicked the stand up and gunned the engine in one swift movement, sirens and lights flashing loudly.   
  
He was halfway up the street when the radio rung out with a loud and numerous, " _ **YES SIR!**_ "

* * *

Duke quickly drew his pistol and cocked the revolver to make sure his ammunition was full before he started to shoot at J-Decker's linked and exposed parts. His cracked helmet and his busted lip and forehead were leaking oil onto his eyes and chest, his right optic seeing nothing but black shadows. He spat out oil that ran in streams down his face and quickly reloaded his pistol as the beast raised its right foot above him.

  
He had been shooting at the shoulders and hip joints with little success so he aimed at the knee joint when J-Decker attempted to stomp on him. J-Decker's knee swiveled as a round found its way in the inner circuitry, throwing the creature off balance as it tumbled backwards.   
  
The humans behind J-Decker screamed as he tumbled like goliath and ran away from their vehicles and into a safe area. Some we're stuck in their vehicles and curled up as J-Decker can crashing down.   
  
Before anything hit the ground, Duke ran forward, lept a good distance, and pushed the vehicles out of the way even if tumbling some over in the process. Two of the four cars had passengers inside, so he quickly broke their windshields and left the car on it's side for them to climb out. Yuuta and his sisters helping the families out as Duke reloaded once more and shot at the still downed monstrosity.   
  
The creature attached to J-Decker blinked for a good long second and barely raised its arm to protect itself from Duke's bullets. The green and hollow optics of the mech in front of Duke turned towards him and raised it's blaster level to him. Duke ran out of bullets and stored his gun away to pull out his sword.   
  
The slow movements of the alien were evident he hadn't been using J-Decker's body like he should have before he started picking fights and Duke used it to his advantage. He ran full speed with his sword leveled under his arm, the tip pointed outwards for a swing or a stab.   
  
The imposter was unable to stop Duke as he went for the eye, barely having strength to match his opponent's agility and speed. The aliens eye shot open wide as Duke's sword was a hair-width away from skewering it, the arm he had raised early catching the blade into its forearm involuntarily. The eye quivered slightly in fear as sparks arose from its wound, small bits of oil blowing bubbles from the hair slice the sword made on its line.   
  
It happened almost too quickly to be natural. Duke couldn't tell if it was fear or if it had only been toying him until Duke nearly killed it, but the alien lashed out successfully. Duke didn't even try to pull out his sword, he just jumped out of the way of the large gun that was being swung around like it weighed nothing. The alien flipping over and dislodging the sword, throwing it off the highway and into the urban area below.   
  
Duke swore as he froze up, "DUKE!"   
  
He turned around and saw Yuuta waving his flashing badge above his head like a SOS in the growing darkness of night. Duke looked further away and spotting military helicopters on the horizon with mounted turrets on the sides. He might have even seen remnants of Build Team amongst the sea of black and blue police cruisers just entering his vision.   
  
"Duke!" Yuuta smiled, "I called reinforcements!"   
  
Duke smiled at the boy and nodded, "Yuuta, get to a safe distance, we can't combined if you're squished under someone's foot."   
  
That didn't seem like what Yuuta wanted to hear and he seemed to deflate, his arm laxing from above him and gripping his badge till his hands were white. His face contorting strangely and swiftly as he stared passed Duke. He stared right through Duke and when the ground shook, it was the sisters that were crying for him to turn.   
  
Duke turned back around with a dreadful look and saw a large black object reach out for him, grabbing him by his right arm before he can escape its reach. It yanked him upwards and he's sure his equilibrium was thrown out of sorts as he was lifted by his arm to meet the alien face-to-eye. The iris was sharper and it's upper eyelid was pinched in a look of anger. It quickly put one hand on his chest cavity and started to pull it's hands in different directions, gradually putting pressure on his glass windshield as well. Duke choked for a second before he started to struggle at the strain in his arm, shoulder, and thorax. Duke tried to pull his arm back but it was useless as J-Decker's strength came into play. The sirens in the distance sounded too close to not see what's happening here, he could tell the helicopters were right above this spectacle of torture.   
  
"DUKE!" The siblings scream in horror as Duke stops struggling.   
  
The aliens optic had a gleam of bloodlust. Duke wrenched his own optics back online as the pain became unbearable, J-Decker's tight grip making it even more painful as sparks flew from the popping and buckling hinges and wires that were tearing loose. Something popped, things were being pulled undone, wires were popping and crackling. Oil was staining his white and red paintjob brown and black. His pain sensors were off the charts and he wasn't the type to close them down and cause further injury but...   
  
The J-Decker monstrosity pulled with all its strength, tearing Duke's arm off like it was a toy with a ball-joint shoulder. Oil didn't stop raining and gushing just because there was nothing for it to flow into, it gushed like rivers of ebony and amber from where his limb used to be attached. Duke was a quiet mech, always more likely to talk his way out of violence if he could have it that way. But Duke screamed. His vocalizer had never forced so much sound out of his throat all at once, he had never had to fight to keep himself from vomiting oil and solvent from his upturned head. His gurgled cries carrying out as the moon and stars fixed his vision in white noise.   
  
An engine was gunned and suddenly a dull green and white winged mech kicked the alien body-snatcher straight in the eye. It overflowed with some kind of liquid and it seemed to blink in a weird sideways movement to get the pain out of it's delicate organ. It dropped Duke and his arm like a boy getting caught breaking his sister's dolls and it started to rub at its eye with Deckard's combined hand to wash the pain away. Gunmax dropping down beside Duke and watched the ambulance wiggle and spit up violently on the ground, the ugly wound where his arm used to be was overflowing with oil, but some of the lines seemed to have cut off circulation to conserve his life-blood.   
  
Gunmax picked up and cradled Duke's upper body; using his left arm to cradle Duke's silently screaming face, the right one to put pressure on his wound, and his lap to rest Duke upon. The ambulance's cracked forehead and busted lip and nose were painful and disturbing to look at and Gunmax almost choked as he looked into Duke's green optics. His left optic lens had shattered when he's fallen and hit the ground. Gunmax watched the inner workings in the streetlight flinch and flex as Duke's optics dilute to stare into nothingness and sharpen to hold focus on Gunmax's face.   
  
"Duke!" Gunmax choked out of his heavy vocalizer, "Stay awake, you have to stay online!"   
  
Despite Gunmax's unusual shattering of his cool exterior, Duke didn't seem to respond in even a twitch in his hands. Duke had gone still and his face had relaxed a little since being held, he almost looked like he could have been asleep, if Gunmax was stupid. Duke's optics were now staring into nothing as Gunmax's scans showed his secondary systems being shut off. Duke's fans stop roaring, Duke's legs went too limp to be normal, his left arm had gone limp, his left hand had unclenched. The only indicator Duke was even alive was Gunmax's scans that his optics, "brain", and primary systems were still online. The oil had slowed down to a tiny faucet from a single broken wire in his shoulder.   
  
"Duke, just stay online for a while longer!" Gunmax cried as he pulled his oil-stained hand to Duke's chin, making his visor meet hazy green ones, "Toudou can fix you, he can fix anything. Look at Shadowmaru, he survived and so will you!"   
  
Duke didn't respond after that, not that Gunmax was expecting him to anymore.

* * *

Build Team hadn't understood the image before them until after they had driven off the monster. After Yuuta had issued the command to combine into Super Build Tiger and to drive off the monster, not to kill it because Deckard was probably still in there, he had started crying heavy and salty tears again as Seia drove in with over twenty heavily fortified cruisers and helicopters at her disposal. 

  
Super Build Tiger matched the beast head on as he grabbed at it's stolen face and just kept punching. Its helm chevron bending inwards as he punched it harshly and ferociously. He eventually let the face go and kicked at it's bad knee, taking it down to bending over itself to gain stability. He kicked at its chest to see if the alien could be dislodged using pain when his foot was caught between one strong and one slippery hand.   
  
The body-snatcher had raised its arms up to protect its eye from another blunt blow to its organ, blinking rapidly to gain back any vision it might have lost due to Gunmax's kick.   
  
It hooked it's big fingers in his knee joint and pulled the limb out from under Super Build Tiger faster then the combiner could shake it off. It played dirty as it crawled up to its knees in the dirt after Super Build Tiger had landed on his back ungracefully, striking out at the still recovering orange and black mech. The alien swung large punches that landed almost perfectly with Super Build Tigers mask, static lacing the optical feed each time it landed a punch.   
  
Seia pointed to the assailant, "SHOOT!"   
  
Yuuta cried out as he gripped her uniform, "NO, _please_!"   
  
But the military had been given their orders, men jumped out of the vehicles with loaded weapons and some with grenades. The helicopters opened fire first on J-Decker's back, the pseudo-wings being pelted first with bullets as they fired on the mech. It felt every bullet and quickly swat at the sky to rid the pain from his sensors, only managing to take one of the many helicopters to the grave as the others just flew away from his large, lumbered swing.   
  
Ground troops were next to open fire, popping their rounds from something as small as twin pistols to a machine gun. The alien cried out as it was pelted with bullets like crazy, any noise it made drowned out with the sound of semi-auto to full auto weapons sending bullets to riddle him painfully. The alien closed its eye and wrapped its arms around its front to protect itself from the bombarding rounds. Eventually some of the weaponry started to lose it's ammunition and the humans in charge of those weapons got out of the frontline of fire. The Tomonaga family were offered sound muffling headphones as they looked at the ground, making the sounds that still got through them not so terrifying.   
  
The knee that Duke had shot was riddled with holes and spilling oil. The alien’s optic flared red and suddenly all machines were surrounded in electricity. Super Build Tiger started to scream in pain as his systems were electrocuted, overworked to keep him stable, and flashing in the red. He gripped the broken asphalt as his body convulsed harshly.   
  
The cars and helicopters sparked red for barely a second. For a second, all sirens and lights flashed before popping and breaking to leave only sirens. Some windshields that were closest to the action exploded into shards of glass to litter the floor.   
  
Gunmax had scooped up Duke and shot into the sky with his bikes wings pushed at how fast he'd expected them to function. Gunmax held a dripping, shattered mess and watched with discomfort as almost everything with energy perished. Super Build Tigers screaming making his tank churn a little more than it already was.

* * *

' **What is wrong with you? You left to fight without backup?** '

 _I don't need your Chieftains, O'Rand. I've killed more than my fair share of enforcers._   
  
' **You're lucky you're too stupid to turn off your robot bodies comm link. Your draining oil, alien.** '   
  
_Why should I care -?_   
  
' **Without oil, you cease to move and function. Your body is useless. I advise you back to base for repair.** '

* * *

  
The flashes of red and white stopped, Super Build Tigers frame going limp on the ground and venting air harshly. The optic on J-Decker looked dazed for a second but quickly squinted in anger. It's jet-pack kicked in as it's damaged knee hung lifelessly as he floated, " _SORRY TO DISAPPOINT, BUT I MUST TAKE OFF..._ "   
  
It was a simple dismissal that almost seemed too bitter-sweet to be good and true...   
  
But, none the less, the J-Decker monster quickly hovered backwards into the countryside for a bit before taking off when he hit the hillsides and trees. It was quiet for a few seconds as nothing moved from it's place.   
  
Super Build Tigers transformation hinges and latches squeaked as they detached from each other in an almost drunk looking way. The chest of Drill Boy unlatching from the hinges that kept him there and just falling off the chest like rain off a roof. Power Joe meet with the concrete face first and aft up as Dumpson's finished transformation to robot mode pushed him sideways, making Dumpson land on his side. McCrane and Drill Boy transforming likewise on opposite ends of Dumpson and Power Joe.   
  
Drill Boy propped himself up on shaking arms, his left arm holding him up the most, "That hurt... so much worse..."   
  
Power Joe cringed physically as he removed himself from his degrading position into a comfortable crawling position on his stomach, "I think I popped a wire or something after that attack."   
  
Dumpson looked at his leg and saw wires poking out that shouldn't be, he didn't feel anymore pain there as he did anywhere else so he signed. His tested his bad knee by letting it nudge Power Joe off him, "It's almost unbelievable that we're alive. He seemed reluctant to let us go..."   
  
"Maybe it wasn't him, but that Victim O'Rand man." McCrane was able to push himself into a kneeling position, "He seems to be the mastermind behind everything... that Gaizonite seemed to be on a tight leash or something..."   
  
Build Team just nodded at each other as they scrambled to get up properly. Stumbling, and pushing on Power Joe and Dumpson's part, lead them to taking longer to stand up properly. They stood in a ring as they moaned in unison.   
  
"Mass repair overhaul when we go back to base?" Power Joe asked. All of Build Team replied with a tired nod.   
  
Dumpson backed up and felt his heel squash something with five limbs. He quickly shot forward and everyone looked at him, and down at what be stepped on when he pointed down at it.   
  
"I thought I crushed a human."   
  
But he hadn't. He had stepped on an arm. The five fingers now bent backwards as it's palm had been dug into the ground thanks to his weight. It's white arm it was attached to didn't go unnoticed, the oil splatters and ugly tear wound only made them freeze up for a second in horrified shock.   
  
" _DUKE!_ " Drill Boy cried out in anguish, it almost made the humans that were trying to salvage their military vehicles whimper in empathy. "Oh my God?!"   
  
Gunmax had long since landed when the coast was clear, but he stayed standing. In his arms, he had Duke bridal style as he walked to Seia and the humans. Yuuta, Azuki, and Kurumi were all crying as they watched Gunmax Armor approach.   
  
"Boss." Gunmax's voice was choppy and unnerved, almost as if he had experienced true fear, "I need to take Duke to Mr. Toudou. We can't do anything more here."   
  
Yuuta nodded into Seia's uniform and she lowered herself to hug him into her shoulder, whispering something that couldn't be heard by anyone but Yuuta. The boy's body jerked in sobs as he gripped her uniform harder. Azuki and Kurumi hugging each other harshly as Azuki whimpered uncontrollably.   
  
The motorcycle cop eyed the group and watched as adrenaline and fear finally settled in and the Brave Police's own boss broke down. It was almost disheartening. Gunmax started his thrusters to take off, but before he could even leave the ground, Drill Boy jumped at his side and engulfed him in his arms.   
  
"Wait!" He cried in hysterics as Gunmax staggered slightly, the soccer player letting go when Gunmax stayed on the ground.   
  
"Drill Boy, I have to -!"   
  
"You can't fix him without this!" Drill Boy cried as he held up the arm Duke had lost, "Toudou can't fix him without it."   
  
He let Drill Boy put Duke's arm on the ambulances stomach so he could carry both of them. Drill Boy's face was depressing and so sorrowful that Gunmax almost wanted to coddle the youngest Brave Team member like a kicked puppy, hushing and patting him on the back with words of comfort. But he'd leave that to Build Team.   
  
He nodded and prepped his thrusters again, Drill Boy beginning to wave him off as Duke shot online. Duke didn't move much as he was curled in Gunmax's arms and Duke felt the vague liftoff of Gunmax Armor, but the British cop couldn't see out of his broken eye. He started to convulse and choke.   
  
"G... ma..." The vocalizer was almost completely filled with oil and fluids as the scratchy voice is barely recognizable.   
  
Drill Boy speaks up before Gunmax could, he was almost in hysterics again as he looks at Duke's painful expression, "Duke! I'm so glad to see you online!"   
  
"Duke, hold on, we're going to Toudou... and Regina, to fix you." Gunmax hushed to ambulance as he started to dribble fuel from his mouth as he attempted to talk.   
  
The ambulance barely settled down as Gunmax actually lifted off this time, taking them over the wreckage of the human military vehicles. The scramble of the humans to save their machines to save them so many trips was almost like bees working for their queen. Duke barely saw the wreckage, his vision in one eye almost gone, but the other barely catching colors and shadows as they passed everything almost instantly.   
  
Humans scavenging scrap...   
  
Even if everything from the last few cars up was obviously dead...   
  
They tried to salvage scrap...   
  
Scrap was useless in their aid...   
  
Scrap was...   
  
"U... sss... eless." Duke said as Gunmax looked at him. They were flying so fast, Gunmax almost didn't catch the knight's statement.   
  
"No; you're able to be fixed, you're alive and you're going to stay that way." Gunmax argued as he called into the Brave headquarters to have everything ready for his arrival.   
  
Duke hadn't been talking about his procedure...   
  
He choked an almost silent sob, _broken_ in more ways than physical. But Gunmax couldn't hear it. Oh boy, but he should have...


End file.
